Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI) has found the answer to building out its business presence in privately-held Atria Networks, one of Ontario's largest fiber providers, which it will purchase for $417 million.
By acquiring Atria, Rogers believes it can bolster the presence of its business unit because the assets will enable it to deliver on-net data services not only within its existing markets and adjacent markets.
Through this acquisition, Rogers will get an additional 130 new employees, 5,600 km fiber route and more than 3,800 on-net buildings in high-growth territories including Ottawa, Cornwall, Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Richmond Hill, Markham, Hamilton, Barrie, Orillia, Peterborough and Vaughan.
After meeting typical regulatory approvals, Rogers expects to complete the deal before the end of Q1 2011.
Roger's acquisition of Atria--a provider formed through the merger of two former utility companies looking to cash in on the lucrative wholesale carrier and business services markets-is yet another sign of how cable operators want to scale their business operations with complementary fiber-based assets not to mention new customers to upsell other complementary wireless and TV services to as well.
Similar to U.S. cable operators such as Comcast's acquisition of Cimco, Roger's acquisition of Atria provides them with complementary network assets to sell wholesale bandwidth to other carriers, but also to expand its presence in larger business accounts.
For more:
- see the release here
- Telecompaper has this article
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